Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Talk with Survivor or Nightclub Fire
Aired February 24, 2003 - 08:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: More now on the Rhode Island nightclub disaster. Nicole Conant and her sister Stephanie were in the front row on Thursday night when the band Great White took the stage at The Station in West Warwick. When the fire began, they somehow managed to escape through a door behind the stage.
Nicole and Stephanie Conant join us this morning from Boston to tell their harrowing story.
Good to see the both of you and I know this is a very painful part of your journey, so I don't want to press you too hard here, but do you mind, Nicole, starting off and telling us about what you remember when this fire got out of control?
NICOLE CONANT, SURVIVED NIGHTCLUB FIRE: My sister Stephanie and I were right up to the stage. We were touching the stage. The show began and about one minute into the first song the flame, there was a flammable egg crate foam lining on the walls and lining the back of the stage, all the way into the drum alcove, which was like a recessed area in the back of the stage.
This foam padding was lining the entire back of the stage and a pyrotechnic effect went off and ignited that foam padding, which within seconds was a huge rapid moving fire.
I, when it first ignited I was just looking at it, looking at the flames and I started to move to my right. And within probably a split second, I grabbed my sister's arm and pulled her told her let's go, we've got to get out of here.
We went around to the side stage, where there is a back door exit. The back door at the time we left the building was propped open. We ran outside. We looked behind us. I know I looked behind me to see if anyone else was coming out. All I remember, there were a few figures behind me, I believe including some band members. And I wondered why more people weren't coming out behind us out that door.
But within those few seconds looking back, there was, you could see the orange glow of the fire and the thick black smoke already curling out of that doorway.
ZAHN: And, Stephanie, what adds to the tragedy of what Nicole has just described to us is our understanding that a lot of the patrons actually thought the fire was part of the show.
STEPHANIE CONANT, SURVIVED NIGHTCLUB FIRE: That is correct. From what we understand, a lot of the fans that were there thought that was part of the actual show that they were putting on. But it wasn't, unfortunately. I know a lot of them had stood there for a few minutes watching it and thought that, you know, not realizing how it was catching to the material that was on the stage, the side of the stage.
ZAHN: You both mentioned this material and it would appear at this hour that investigators are really focused on that soundproof foam.
STEPHANIE CONANT: Correct.
ZAHN: Now, Nicole, is it true, you know, you've gone to this club a lot, that you never saw that soundproof foam before? You thought it was, you think it was new, newly installed?
NICOLE CONANT: Yes. Yes. That's correct. We had been to The Station before, at least twice before, to see shows there. We have never seen this foam padding used at The Station nor any other venue and actually it struck something with us when we both saw it initially, wondering -- we thought it was weird, wondering why is that up? What would it be used for? I mean we kind of figured maybe a sound barrier.
As we're finding out as the days are unfolding, and this is becoming more of a reality to us, that it really did happen. And it not only happened to us, but it happened to so many people. And we've also found out that that foam padding was put up as a sound barrier for the residential area behind the venue of neighbors complaining of the sound.
Now, why wasn't something else done in that venue to soundproof it? Why would have a flammable material be put up? Whether there were pyrotechnics or not at that show, there is electrical, all sorts of electrical things happening. The stage is lined with electrical activity. You have cords running all over the stage. You have people that smoke in these clubs.
STEPHANIE CONANT: I mean if someone...
NICOLE CONANT: We're talking about just the general, the general safety of all the patrons. And I also want to know where was the basic fire prevention? I never saw any fire extinguishers appear. I didn't see any kind of organized plan brought on by the employees of The Station to get people out. There was, there was no one with flashlights or I didn't feel any water coming from the ceiling as the sprinkler, as what would come from a sprinkler system.
I felt totally unprotected by The Station.
ZAHN: And you also say the door that you exited through was propped open and it didn't have a handle on it. It only had a hole where the handle should have been?
NICOLE CONANT: Yes, that's exactly right.
STEPHANIE CONANT: Right. NICOLE CONANT: That...
STEPHANIE CONANT: And that also was lined with some kind of padding, as well, that back door that we had escaped out of.
NICOLE CONANT: And that door, that door is usually always closed during performances. When the fire ignited and as it grew, we believe that a Station employee propped that door open, which, by the way, pulled into the inside. It did not push out, it pulled inwards, which I understand is a violation. That door also had no bar on it, no safety bar, no doorknob to speak of...
STEPHANIE CONANT: And no exit sign at all on it.
NICOLE CONANT: There was a hole drilled through where a standard doorknob might go.
ZAHN: Well, I guess the attorney general is probably going to come talking to the two of you. I know he told us this morning that he's going to try to talk to as many of you who got out as possible to learn more about what went so horribly wrong.
Nicole and Stephanie Conant, thank god you're alive and thank you for sharing your story with us this morning.
NICOLE CONANT: Thanks.
STEPHANIE CONANT: Thank you.
ZAHN: Good luck to both of you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 24, 2003 - 08:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: More now on the Rhode Island nightclub disaster. Nicole Conant and her sister Stephanie were in the front row on Thursday night when the band Great White took the stage at The Station in West Warwick. When the fire began, they somehow managed to escape through a door behind the stage.
Nicole and Stephanie Conant join us this morning from Boston to tell their harrowing story.
Good to see the both of you and I know this is a very painful part of your journey, so I don't want to press you too hard here, but do you mind, Nicole, starting off and telling us about what you remember when this fire got out of control?
NICOLE CONANT, SURVIVED NIGHTCLUB FIRE: My sister Stephanie and I were right up to the stage. We were touching the stage. The show began and about one minute into the first song the flame, there was a flammable egg crate foam lining on the walls and lining the back of the stage, all the way into the drum alcove, which was like a recessed area in the back of the stage.
This foam padding was lining the entire back of the stage and a pyrotechnic effect went off and ignited that foam padding, which within seconds was a huge rapid moving fire.
I, when it first ignited I was just looking at it, looking at the flames and I started to move to my right. And within probably a split second, I grabbed my sister's arm and pulled her told her let's go, we've got to get out of here.
We went around to the side stage, where there is a back door exit. The back door at the time we left the building was propped open. We ran outside. We looked behind us. I know I looked behind me to see if anyone else was coming out. All I remember, there were a few figures behind me, I believe including some band members. And I wondered why more people weren't coming out behind us out that door.
But within those few seconds looking back, there was, you could see the orange glow of the fire and the thick black smoke already curling out of that doorway.
ZAHN: And, Stephanie, what adds to the tragedy of what Nicole has just described to us is our understanding that a lot of the patrons actually thought the fire was part of the show.
STEPHANIE CONANT, SURVIVED NIGHTCLUB FIRE: That is correct. From what we understand, a lot of the fans that were there thought that was part of the actual show that they were putting on. But it wasn't, unfortunately. I know a lot of them had stood there for a few minutes watching it and thought that, you know, not realizing how it was catching to the material that was on the stage, the side of the stage.
ZAHN: You both mentioned this material and it would appear at this hour that investigators are really focused on that soundproof foam.
STEPHANIE CONANT: Correct.
ZAHN: Now, Nicole, is it true, you know, you've gone to this club a lot, that you never saw that soundproof foam before? You thought it was, you think it was new, newly installed?
NICOLE CONANT: Yes. Yes. That's correct. We had been to The Station before, at least twice before, to see shows there. We have never seen this foam padding used at The Station nor any other venue and actually it struck something with us when we both saw it initially, wondering -- we thought it was weird, wondering why is that up? What would it be used for? I mean we kind of figured maybe a sound barrier.
As we're finding out as the days are unfolding, and this is becoming more of a reality to us, that it really did happen. And it not only happened to us, but it happened to so many people. And we've also found out that that foam padding was put up as a sound barrier for the residential area behind the venue of neighbors complaining of the sound.
Now, why wasn't something else done in that venue to soundproof it? Why would have a flammable material be put up? Whether there were pyrotechnics or not at that show, there is electrical, all sorts of electrical things happening. The stage is lined with electrical activity. You have cords running all over the stage. You have people that smoke in these clubs.
STEPHANIE CONANT: I mean if someone...
NICOLE CONANT: We're talking about just the general, the general safety of all the patrons. And I also want to know where was the basic fire prevention? I never saw any fire extinguishers appear. I didn't see any kind of organized plan brought on by the employees of The Station to get people out. There was, there was no one with flashlights or I didn't feel any water coming from the ceiling as the sprinkler, as what would come from a sprinkler system.
I felt totally unprotected by The Station.
ZAHN: And you also say the door that you exited through was propped open and it didn't have a handle on it. It only had a hole where the handle should have been?
NICOLE CONANT: Yes, that's exactly right.
STEPHANIE CONANT: Right. NICOLE CONANT: That...
STEPHANIE CONANT: And that also was lined with some kind of padding, as well, that back door that we had escaped out of.
NICOLE CONANT: And that door, that door is usually always closed during performances. When the fire ignited and as it grew, we believe that a Station employee propped that door open, which, by the way, pulled into the inside. It did not push out, it pulled inwards, which I understand is a violation. That door also had no bar on it, no safety bar, no doorknob to speak of...
STEPHANIE CONANT: And no exit sign at all on it.
NICOLE CONANT: There was a hole drilled through where a standard doorknob might go.
ZAHN: Well, I guess the attorney general is probably going to come talking to the two of you. I know he told us this morning that he's going to try to talk to as many of you who got out as possible to learn more about what went so horribly wrong.
Nicole and Stephanie Conant, thank god you're alive and thank you for sharing your story with us this morning.
NICOLE CONANT: Thanks.
STEPHANIE CONANT: Thank you.
ZAHN: Good luck to both of you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
